Macaron Madness

Guess what I baked today??

Rising gloriously in the oven!!

Some Thoughts on Baking

I’ve been baking pan-loads these days. LOADS.

And the best part is, I’ve only baked ONE item. Pandan cake.

Good Morning

Experimenting

Golden-Gai (新宿ゴールデン街), Shinjuku, Tokyo

One of the coolest accidental finds on the trip is the area known as “Golden-Gai” in Shinjuku.

I’d always remembered it for the trip after watching Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” culinary programme, and it was one of the coolest things ever. (Anything involving AB is cool.) But I didn’t take down the details (or rather, he didn’t give any) so I had no idea what it was.

As with all things unplanned, sometimes you stumble upon what you were looking for:

Sometimes

I hate God. On Sundays.

I cry.

I think no one understands me.

I want everyone to get out of my face.

I feel this isn’t my life.

I think it would be easier to jump off the building.

I feel invisible.

I think being nice doesn’t mean a thing.

I am never good enough.

I get taken advantage of.

I think dreams never come true.

I want to be swallowed up by the earth.

I think it’s too much.

I think it’s never enough.

I just want to tell you this.

Hidemi Sugino, Tokyo

We didn’t get to research much on food, especially for Tokyo since it wasn’t even planned! I usually do a cursory search through Chubby Hubby, but I have to say, we have different palates (and pockets too). Nonetheless, since I discovered Pierre Herme through him, I usually am quite curious about the other patisseries that he recommends. And one of the uniquely Japanese pastry chef mentioned is Hidemi Sugino.

Ladurée, Tokyo

Hellooooo Tokyoooo!!

Leaving behind the Land of Lee Minho, we arrive in the Land of the Rising Sun!

Off we go to Ginza, the shopping street with every brand under the sun.

The first Japanese store we hit was Mitsukoshi, and we stumbled upon the Ladurée Cafe! I was going to save our macaron-quota for Pierre Herme, but Thad commented that since we always rave about PH, it’s only fair to try the Parisien competitor to make our comments valid!

Happiness in a Box

Look what came in the mail!

Change of Plans

Ever since returning from the trip, everyone has been asking “How was your trip?? Did you get time to relax??”

And the answer is… Nooooooo. Not for me anyway! Now, I’m someone who pretty much just rolls with it and lives life on the edge when it comes to traveling (hitchhiking anyone?), but even this was challenging for me!

Here’s the original plan:

Hong Kong –> Seoul –> Jeju –> Seoul –> Osaka –> Kyoto